Amos 6

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion// Luke 6:24–26

¹Woe to those at ease in Zion

and those secure on Mount Samaria,

the distinguished ones of the foremost nation,

to whom the house of Israel comes.

• AMOS 6:1[NOTE]WOE TO THOSE AT EASE. Amos speaks here, about the leaders in Zion and Samaria, so 6:1 to 7 is black.

²Cross over to Calneh and see;

go from there to the great Hamath;

then go down to Gath of the Philistines.

Are you better than these kingdoms?

Is their territory larger than yours?

³You dismiss the day of calamity

and bring near a reign of violence.

⁴You lie on beds inlaid with ivory,

and lounge upon your couches.

You dine on lambs from the flock

and calves from the stall.

• AMOS 6:4[NOTE]BEDS INLAID WITH IVORY. See The Samaria Ivories, 1 Kings.

⁵You improvise songs on the harp like David

and invent your own musical instruments.

⁶You drink wine by the bowlful

and anoint yourselves with the finest oils,

but you fail to grieve

over the ruin of Joseph.

• AMOS 6:6[NOTE]WINE BY THE BOWLFUL. The word is for the big bowls used at the altar, not cups. They partied while their nation fell apart.

⁷Therefore, you will now go into exile

as the first of the captives,

and your feasting and lounging

will come to an end.

The Pride of Israel

⁸The Lord Yahweh has sworn by Himself—Yahweh, the God of Hosts, has declared:

“I abhor Jacob’s pride

and detest his citadels,

so I will deliver up the city

and everything in it.”

⁹And if there are ten men left in one house, they too will die. ¹⁰And when the relative who is to burn the bodies picks them up to remove them from the house, he will call to one inside, “Is anyone else with you?”

“None,” that person will answer.

“Silence,” the relative will retort, “for the name of Yahweh must not be invoked.”

• AMOS 6:10[NOTE]SILENCE. In that day of death, people will be afraid even to say Yahweh's name.

¹¹For Yahweh gives a command:

“The great house will be smashed to pieces,

and the small house to rubble.”

¹²“Do horses gallop on the cliffs?

Does one plow the sea with oxen?

But you have turned justice into poison

and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood—

¹³you who rejoice in Lo-debar and say,

‘Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?’

• AMOS 6:13[NOTE]LO DEBAR AND KARNAIM. Two towns in Gilead that Israel likely took back when Jeroboam II won back land, 2 Kings 14:25. A pun: Lo Debar sounds like nothing, and Karnaim means horns, a sign of strength.

¹⁴For behold, I will raise up a nation

against you, O house of Israel,”

declares Yahweh, the God of Hosts,

“and they will oppress you

from Lebo-hamath to the Brook of the Arabah.”